Cigarette and like packing machine



July 19, 1938. J. CRIGHTON CIGARETTE AND LIKE PACKING MACHINE Filed Nov. 18, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jply 19, 1938. J, CRIGHTQN 2,124,187

CIGARETTE AND LIKE PACKING momma Filed Nov. 18, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jun- July 19, 1938. Y J. CRIGHTON 2,124,187

CIGARETTE AND LIKE PACKING MACHINE Filed Nov. 18, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 v 25' from either side of the hopper.

Patented July 19, 1938 e UNITEDSTATES G I GARETTE AND LIKE P CKING MACHINE John Crighton, London, England, assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, New

York, N. Y., a corporation of NewJersey Application November 18, 1936, Serial Nd. 111,422 e In Great Britain November 20, 1935 6 Claims.

This invention relates to packing machines for" packeting cigarettes and like shaped articles and has reference more particularly to the hopper u device for accommodating the supply of .cigarettes or the like and to the means for controlling the feed of the cigarettes from the hopper.

In such hoppers it is usual to provide some means for controlling the flow of the cigarettes I i from the body of the hopper to the discharge or mouth whereby choking of themouth is prevented and it is an object of the invention to provide improved means for this purpose.

A further object is to provide improved means for controlling the bulk of the cigarettes in the hopper while the predetermined number of cigarettes' is 'being'removed'by pusher of the wrapping means.

According to oscillating gate element or agitator is located within the hopper above the outlet therefrom and is adapted to afford a two point control .of the flow of the cigarettes in the hopper. J

The gate element oryagitator is preferably so arranged that the flow of cigarettes takes place The gate element may comprise a pair oi super-s posed A shaped, elements or vanes spaced from one another, theupper element controlling the flow of cigarettes to, the lower element which act-in turn controls the flow of cigarettes to the mouth or outlet of the hopper.

According to a furtherfeature of the invention the chute of the hopper is provided with separate passageways by a plurality of vanes and the receiving table is provided with similar vanes fixed thereto and forming compartments of a depth to contain a predetermined number, say

two, cigarettes and the vaned hopper is capable of displacement relatively to the table in order to arrest the flow of cigarettes while the predetermined number located in the table compartment are removed by the pusher.

Further features of the invention will be hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:-

Figure 1 is a side view of the hopper supply shown in relation to the table of a packing machine.

Figure 2 is'an end view of the hopper alone. Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-301 Figure 1.

In carrying the invention into effect according to one convenient mode as applied to a hopper feed for a cigarette packeting machine a hopper is provided comprising a fixed rear wall [-0, an

? adjustable front wall H and lower inclined walls onefeature of'the invention an (cram-5) j 1 II which terminate at their lower edges in an outlet capable of delivering a predetermined number of cigarettes,simultaneouslylin a horizon-' tal line. The front'wall is carried on brackets l3 by adjustable pivots l 4 and is held against ad- 5' justable stop pins *l'5 by means' of springs l6.

Located above the outlet and'adapted to oscillate about a' horizontal axis is a gate element which is in the nature of "spaced superposed A elements or plates H and it", The plates of the lower element I! are torined in onewith a mounting-l9 by which the gatedevice is carried upon an oscillable shaft 20. The mounting l9 extends above the axis'of theshaft and is adapted to carry the upper A element l8 which is attached tothe mounting at the apex of the A. The angle between the plates oi thei'uppern element 18, may 'be'about: 100"and the sides or the A may terminate slightly below the axis of the shaft '20. These side platesmay' 'be capable of extension by adjustable end pieces 18a. so "thatthe space between the platesjan'd the'sloping walls I2 of the hopper may be adjusted. 1

The angle between-t the plates of the lower A element 11; may be about theangle of the A coinciding more or' less with the axis of the shaft 20. The length of theplate's oithe lower A element is such that the spacebetween the plates and the Walls l2 of thehQD er permits a sufficient flow of cigarettes to "ensure an adequate. supplyof cigarettes atithe outlet.

The gate I1 and; I8 is jadapted to be oscillated by any suitablemear'is'. For example an' arm 2| may be'provided fixed tojthega te' shaft 20, such arm being connected by an link or connecting rod 22'to a crank pinflfcarried by acrank disc 24 which is rotated by a dri'ving shaft 25. v

The arm 2! is *slotted sothat the point of con; nection of the rod '22' ft eretomay be adjusted whereby the amplitude; the osciilations of the gate element maybe varied I In operation, Yas'thef gate member l1, I8 is oscillated the ends of the plates I] or the lower, A move'in paths'substa'ntially parallelto the sloping walls l2 of the hopper while the ends of theplates, l8 of the upper A will move in'substantially 'verticalpathsff The upper Aelem'ent l8support s the main body of cigarettes in thehopper' and causes themto flow outwardly 'towards the ends of the hopper, while the oscillations of such element will cause a flowing of cigarettes intothe'spaces I25 between the A elements. The oscillations 'of the lower A element l'lzwi'llscause a flow of cigarettes into thespace 26 zbelowuthe lower A whereby an Below the outlet from the hopper a chute D is provided which is formed of aseries of vanes 21 to provide a series of parallel passages 28 arranged vertically and of a length to contain each a number of cigarettes.

Conveniently there are ten passageways 28 and the lowest cigarettes are adapted to rest upon a table or shelf 30 from which the desired number, say two rows, or twenty cigarettes are delivered axially by pusher elements to the packeting mechanism. a

It will be appreciated that in removing the two lower rows a tilting of the cigarettes in the next upper or third row will occur which may.

have the effect of disturbing the flow of the cigarettes down the passageways.

In order to avoid this disturbance it is desirable to stop the flow of cigarettes down the passageways 28 while the lowest rows are being removed, and for this purpose a chute is adapted to cooperate with the vaned lower pasageways 29 formed of a height to take two cigarettes in each passage. 7 V

The vanes 28a forming the passageways 29 are fixed to the table 30 upon which the lowest row of cigarettes is adapted to rest.

The table passageways 29 are permanently fixed but the vaned chute 50 is mounted so that it can reciprocate. horizontally, the amplitude of the reciprocation being about equal to one half the pitch of the vanes. v I

When the vanes 28 of the chute are moved out of register with the vanes 28a of the table, the lowest cigarettes in the chute will rest upon the vanes 28a. of the table and thus the flow of the cigarettes will be arrested during which period the pusher will remove the cigarettes from the pasageway 29 between the table vanes 28a.

It is convenient to arrange the vaned chute separate from the body of the hopper and to hang it upon links 3| which are pivotally connected to the framework 5| so that the desired reciprocation may be effected. The reciprocaq tion maybe obtained in any suitable way and conveniently by connecting the chute to an arm 32 associated with the crank shaft 25 by which the gate device 11, I8 is oscillated such shaft having a rotary cam 33 engaging a roller 34 on said arm so that the cam imparts a thrust to the arm, the return movement being effected by a spring 35 or springs. The end of the arm is slotted and supported upon the crank shaft. The

cam 33 may also at the same time be adapted. to impart a vibratory movement to the suspended,

chute to assist the passage of the. cigarettes through the chute.

It may be necessary to arrest the supply of cigarettes to the plunger for adjustment purposes or otherwise and for this a manually operable cam 36 is provided adapted to be pivoted upon the shaft 25 by the handle 3'! with a posi-.;

tion to engage a pin 38 on the bar 32 to impart a movement to the chute. The cam 36 has a recess 39 into which the'pin 38 seats to hold the parts in the desired position until the handle is again actuated to permit the cam 33 to function.

This however, is not intended to exclude other arrangements for oscillation of the chute vanes, in order to retard the flow of cigarettes, which may embody the basic idea of means hereinafter claimed, which includes appropriate means by which the chute vane ends can be oscillated bodily across the upper ends of the fixed table vanes, simultaneously, to retard the flow of cigarettes for the stated purpose.

Located between the hopper opening and the chute an agitator device is provided comprising transverse bars or steps 4|], 4| mounted upon a bar-42-coinciding with the fixed wall I0. The bar 42 is connected to a reciprocable slide 43 which is provided with a roll 44 engaging a rotary cam 45 on the cam shaft 25. A spring 46 holds the roll 44 up to the cam.

Bythe provision of the agitator the flow of the cigarettes into the passageways of the chute is ensured.

The sides of the passageways 28 in the chute are closed by strips 52 and 53 the latter being mounted as a block to pivot upon the bar 41 so that they may be lifted to getat the passage- Ways should a stoppage occur or for any other reason. o

The side strips 52 are retained in position by springs 48. v

It .will be appreciated that the rotation of the cam 33 will be synchronized with the pusher element of the wrapper device so that the chute of the, hopper is moved to stop the flow of cigarettes whilst the pusher operates to remove the predetermined number of cigarettes from the table passageways.

It is to be noted that the improved agitating feed means and the improved mouth of chute constructions may be utilized independently of one another.

I claim:

1. A hopper for supplying cigarettes or like shaped articles to a packing machine, said machine having a packing table provided with fixed, upright, compartment-forming vanes, said hopper having a vaned chute provided with passageways through which the articles are delivered to corresponding compartments on the packing table said compartments being of a depth to contain a predetermined number of articles, said chute being, mounted for lateral reciprocation to move the passageways out of register with said compartments and into register with the upper ends of said fixed vanes, thereby to arrest the flow of articles through the chute, while the articles are removed axially from said compartments.

2. A hopper for supplying cigarettes or like shaped articles to a packing machine, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vaned chute is pivotally supported upon links and means are provided for oscillating the chute to effect the desired relative displacement.

3. A hopper for supplying cigarettes or like shaped articles to a packing machine, as claimed in claim 1 wherein the vaned chute is pivotally supported upon links and reciprocation thereof is effected by a rotary cam engaging a roll carried by a link coupled to the chute.

4. A hopper for supplying cigarettes or like shaped articles to a packing machine, as claimed in claim 1 wherein the vaned chute is pivotally supported upon links and reciprocation thereof is effected by a rotary cam engaging a roll carried by a link coupled to the chute, and wherein a manually operable cam is provided for engaging said r011 temporarily to retain the chute in its displaced position to arrest the supply of articles to the-take ofi means.

5. A vaned chute for a hopper supplying cigarettes or like shaped articles to a packing machine having a pair of spaced horizontal axes for mounting the chute swingingly between the outlet of the hopper and a vaned packing table and means for reciprocating the chute swingingly around said axes to move the vanes out of register, and to aid passage of cigarettes through said outlet from the hopper by agitation of the cigarettes in the vicinity of said outlet.

6. An immovable packing table for a machine adapted to pack cigarettes or like shaped articles delivered from the outlet of a hopper mounted above said table, a chute mounted to oscillate bodily between said outlet and said table, and having upright vanes forming exclusively vertical compartments, means to oscillate said chute to agitate said cigarettes at said outlet exclusively and thereby to distribute into the several compartments of the chute a continuous supply of cigarettes or the like, and a series of fixed vanes upon said table spaced apart to form compartments adapted each to contain a predetermined number of said articles and to maintain said articles in fixed side-by-side columns therein, ready for transfer axially to a packing mechanism, said chute-vanes being disposed in spaced relation adapted to bring the lower ends of said vanes alternatingly over the fixed vanes upon said table and over the compartments therebetween.

JOHN CRIGHTON. 

